Three Forks defeats Lone Peak in home finale

The Three Forks High School Girls' Basketball team (8-10, 4-8 5B) wrapped up their home schedule with a 57-44 win on February 8 over Lone Peak.

Three Forks started strong, taking a 16-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. Lone Peak bounced back in the second, outscoring the Wolves 19-7 to take a 25-23 halftime lead.

It was a huge third quarter for Three Forks, who outscored Lone Peak 15-5 to take a 38-28 lead into the final quarter.

Wolves Head Coach Lacy Noble said at the half; she told the team they had to gut it out and persevere.

"We had to be better with our press. I knew we could rattle them with our pressure. We really talked about the press at halftime and finishing our shots. We weren't finding the bottom of the net. I just told them to mentally finish your shots, and it worked," Noble said.

Three Forks was led in scoring by sophomore Maddie Tesoro, who had a game-high 20 points.

"I thought Maddie did a great job handling the pressure, and I thought she played with her teammates really well and alleviated some of the pressure off her. She's a smart player, and she's going to be able to destroy some defenses, and she did that tonight," Noble said.

Freshmen Maya Noble and Ada Rae Thomas finished with nine points, Bella Jones had seven, Kylee Reichman had five, Devynn Judd finished with four, and senior Zandra Potts added two points.

The victory also marked the return of senior Fallon Page, who had missed a large part of the season due to injury and ended the game with one point.

"I was tearing up seeing her on the court. It was the best thing. I know the feeling of what it's like to play, and I know she had the desire to get back. Watching a kid who loves the sport and is talented at it get another chance to get on the floor is really important," Noble said.

Coming off a loss to Whitehall in their only game the week before, Noble said the win against Lone Peak was a good turning point for the squad.

"I tried to talk to them individually on what they needed to do, what they can bring to the table, and how they can contribute to the team, not just individually. And that's what they did tonight. They came to play for their team, and that's a huge difference from last week to tonight," she said.

In their final regular-season game, Three Forks lost 52-36 on the road to rival Manhattan.

Thomas led the team in scoring with 12, and Reichman added five points. Noble, Tesoro, Judd, and Tanaya Hauser all had four points.

Fifth-seeded Three Forks will open the 5B District Tournament with a matchup against fourth-seeded Townsend at Manhattan Christian on Thursday, February 15, at 3:30 p.m. The winner of the opening round game will play in the semifinals against Jefferson on February 16 at 1 p.m.

The loser of the opening round game will play an elimination game on February 16 at 9 a.m.